Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
fetish

{fet'-ish} 

A fetish is an object believed to have magical powers; it may be either a natural object, such as a shell, or an artifact, such as a wood carving. The word is derived from the Portuguese feitico, meaning a charm, talisman, or AMULET. Portuguese sailors coined the term in the 15th century when they observed the veneration that West-Coast Africans had for such objects, which they wore on their persons. 

The most important aspects of the fetish are that it is believed to embody the power of the sacred and that it is portable, making it always accessible to the bearer. Auguste Comte and Charles de Brosses interpreted the fetish as a basis for their theories concerning the origin of religion. Today the term is popularly used to refer to an object or idea that receives superstitious or unquestioning trust or reverence. It is also used in psychiatry to refer to the inordinate or pathological fascination a person may have for an inanimate object. 

Charles H. Long 

Bibliography: Milligan, Robert H., Fetish Folk of West Africa (1912; repr. 1970); Nassau, Robert H., Fetishism in West Africa: Forty Years' Observation of Native Customs and Superstitions (1904; repr. 1977).